About 50,000 PG&E Northern California customers may lose power in safety shutoffs
About 50,000 Pacific Gas and Electric customers in portions of 21 Northern California counties could lose their electricity as early as Wednesday afternoon in the latest series of the utility’s public safety power shutoffs to prevent new wildfires.
PG&E Corp. on Monday notified customers of the potential electricity shutdown as hot and dry conditions, along with wind gusts, are developing in the region. These conditions present an increased risk of damage to the utility’s electrical system, which has the potential to ignite fires in areas of dry vegetation, PG&E officials said in a news release.
The targeted areas for shutoffs include Placer, El Dorado, Yuba, Nevada, Solano, Sonoma, Butte and Calaveras counties. The other counties are Alameda, Amador, Contra Costa, Lake, Monterey, Napa, Plumas, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra and Tehama.
PG&E officials said the high fire-risk conditions were expected to arrive Wednesday evening, and the strong winds were expected to subside by Thursday morning in some areas. In other areas, the wind should calm by Friday morning.
Restoring power to affected customers will likely take 12 daylight hours once the weather “all clear” has been given. PG&E crews need to inspect the de-energized lines to make sure they weren’t damaged during the “wind event,” according to the news release.
PG&E said the highest probability areas for these public safety power shutoffs include:
▪ The Northern Sierra Nevada foothills.
▪ The mid and higher elevations in the Sierra generally north of Yosemite.
▪ The North Bay mountains near Mt. St. Helena.
▪ Small pockets in the East Bay near Mt. Diablo.
▪ The Oakland Hills east of Piedmont.
▪ The elevated terrain east of Milpitas around the Calaveras Reservoir.
▪ Portions of the Santa Cruz and Big Sur mountains.
“This is not expected to be a widespread event in the Bay Area at this time,” PG&E officials said in the news release.
Additional customer notifications will be issued as the potential wind event nears. PG&E officials said, and the utility’s in-house meteorologists and staff in its Wildfire Safety Operation Center and Emergency Operation Center will continue to monitor conditions.
PG&E customers enrolled in its Medical Baseline program who have not verified that they received notification of the potential shutoffs will be visited at home by a PG&E employee when possible, according to the news release. Officials said primary focus will be given to customers who rely on electricity for critical life-sustaining equipment.
In El Dorado County, 1,654 customers and 73 Medical Baseline customers could lose their power later this week. In Placer County, 389 customers, 13 Medical Baseline customers could be forced to go without electricity.
This story was originally published October 12, 2020 at 6:55 PM with the headline "About 50,000 PG&E Northern California customers may lose power in safety shutoffs."
